Piano key bed support



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. I'. L. WING.

PIANO KEY BED SUPPORT.

Patented Oct. 12,1886.

w w" mi N PETERS, Phom-Lnhugmpner, Wnahingmm D. C.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P. L. WING. PIANO KEY BED SUPPORT. No. 350,517. Patented Oct. l2, 1886. fam.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. v

FRANK LEEMAN VING, OF BROOKLYN, ASSGNOR TO OHARLS U. VING,

OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

PIANO-KEY-BED SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 350,517, dated October 12,1886.

Applcati. n filed May 1, 1885. Serial No. 164,145. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, FRANK LEEMAN WING,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Piano-Fortes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of piano-fortes.

The objects of my improvements are, rst, to afford facilities for the regulating and finishing of upright pianos independently of the varnished portions of the case; second, a new and improved construction,in lieu of the backr5 oase frames of uprights, which will impart greater strength iu proportion to the weight and cost.

My improved frames also have the advantage of improving the tone and increasing the 2o vibration of the instrument.

These improvements are securedby means of the mechanisms illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Figures 1, 3, and 5 are end views of myim provements in upright-piano movements, and

illustrate more vparticularly theimproved supports for the key-beds described hereinafter in this specification. Figs. 2 and`4 are front views of two (2) varieties of these movements.

3o In Fig. 2 the strings and pins are shown also. Fig. 7 shows in front elevation a corrugated metal back frame having the wrestplank and 4sounding-board attached in position. Fig. 8 is a top view of the same,while Fig. 6 is a ver tical section through the line XX. (Shown in Fig. 8.)

The arms or brackets marked OC C, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, andc, show my improved supports for the key-bed.y By the employment of these 4o brackets the manufacturer will beenabled to lit the key-bed in place, ready for the super` imposed action,without relying upon the sides of the case as a support while the instrument is in the shop undergoingthe process `of assembling the diiierentinternal parts together.

In Figs. 3 and 4, O shows one of two brackets 'fastened one to each end of the back frame at the proper height and supporting the keybed D. The key-bed for this purpose may rest 5o either on the uppersid'e of the bracket or be suspended from the under side thereof by means of screws, 85e., as desired or deemed preferable. The dotted lines bound the case after it isfastened to the body of] the instrument. The method hitherto has been to fasten the arm or bracket which supports the key-bed to the case proper, instead of to the body ofthe instrument. The exterior or outer portion of this arm has been veneered and varnished and made to form part of ythe exterior ornamental easing. As a mere auxiliary support to the inner or back edge of the key-board, some makers have had cast upon the surface of the iron platev two or three short knobs, which were merely designed to keep the inner edge from sagging out of the horizontal. My improvement, however, consists .in a very strong and an entirely independent support for the key-bed, without reference to the sides or the front of the case. In this wayI am enabled to regulate and finish the piano complete while the sides of the case are yet in the varnish room. The result is accomplished by means of the long arms or brackets, such as (l C or G. These are fastened either to 75 some part of the back frame, B, (see Figs. 3 and 4,) or otherwise are projected outwardly from the iron plate, sounding-board, wrestplank, or the bottom of the piano, at some point near the ends of the instrument, (see Figs. l and 2,) the object in each case being the same-namely, to afford a perfectly firm support for the entire key-bed D. Of the two methods, I prefer to fasten long brackets or arms to each end of the back framing, as in Figs. 3 and 4t but I do not confine myself to either plan, as there are for some styles advantages in favor of supporting the key-bed D by means of a bracket extending from the plate, board, wrestsplank, or bottom of casing, as shown by brackets, (marked 0,) Figs. l and 2. The method by which these long brackets or arms (l O O are attached to the body of the piano is not important so long as it provides sufficient strength. They may be either let intol rabbets or grooves eut in the back frame or screwed or bolted to either of the parts above mentioned.

In Figs. l and 2-the bracket may be cast with the plate,or be welded orbolted,as suited 10o to the fancy ofthe constructing piano-maker. The bracket O, Figs. 1 and 2, projects backmental portions of the case are attached.

Ward from some point near the outer edge of the key-bed D. At its inner extremity the bracket C is fastened either to the plate, sounding-board, bottom of the case, to the timbers behind the sounding-board, or te the wrestplank.

In Figs. l and 2 the bracket is shown fastened at its inner extremity to the iron plate, which will sufficiently illustrate the principle involved. As the bracket C passes outside of the line of the front frames of the case, it will be necessary to cut a small opening or slot in the top of the case panel or frame beneath the key-bed D, or otherwise to cut a recess in the under side of the key-bed itself, so that the long arm C shall not prevent the lower panel of the case from being fitted in its proper position-to Wit, j ust below the inner edge of the.

key-bed D.

I am aware of the fact that buttons or knobs cast upon the surface of the iron plate just below the key-bed have been employed in some instances to act as an auxiliary support to the case itself but these short projections meet an entirely different object from the long bracket or varm devised by me, as C C C. These long brackets projecting beyond the case form supports sufficient in themselves to hold the key-bed without making any connection toI the sides of the case, as is now universally done. The said short knobs would not reach to the `line of the back ends of the keys proper, and have been merely and only designed to keep theextreme backedge of the key-bed D from sagging or dropping out of an exact horizontal position, while thc main supports were the projecting side portion of the case propert'. e., according tothe old system now in vogue. The improved brackets, as C C C, on the other hand, are supports for the 'entire keybed, as they project well forward and under the fronts of the keys, and thus support rmly in a horizontal position the entire surface of the key-bed D.

My improved supports, as shown, I have designed to act independently of any other supportwhatever, to sustain the key-bed and the superimposed action-work.

The supports C O C (shown in Figs. l, 3,

and15) may be either designed for permanent or temporary service. The value of my improvement, as an aid in the manufacturing process, would be equally great if' after the piano-movement was finished Without using the case, by means of the supports, as C or C or C, the case should be then affixed and the key-bed D then firmly fastened to the case in addition to the brackets. My object is to construct an upright piano by means of my devices, which shall be a perfect piano, in playing order before any of the important orna- In the event that it should be desirable to ship such an uncased movement as I have described,

then either permanent or temporary supports may be used. When the latter are used, I

have devised two or more guiding-markswhich are made on the body of the instrument. These must be drawn to indicate exactly where the I key-bed must be permanently fixed. Such a guiding-mark for one end of the instrument is shownby the letters ma, Fig. 1. These marks, if accurately made, will permit mechanics at a distance to adjust the key-bed and action at the exact elevation indicated by the marks, and then to incase the instrument for market. These marks may be made in any way, and may bc either elevated or depressed.

By using myimproved supports C C' or C", Figs. 1, 2, and 5, for the key-bed, as above described, I am enabled to construct a low-priced school-instrument which shall be a complete working machine without any orna'mental case Whatever. Upon the key-bed suspended or supported by the brackets, as I have above described, I place the key-board, and above the keyboard the action in the usual manner, and then proceed to regulate and tune the piano in perfect mechanical shape, but without its case. affords can then (when it is desired to make school or practice instruments) be secured by using a loose covering of wooleu or other fabric to protect the instrument from dust, &c.,wl1en it is not in use.

Figs. 7 and 8 show my improved back frame-namely, a plate of corrugated iron or steel, I, fastened to the wrest-plank and sounding-board. This back plate I make in one piece and large enough to cover the entire back of the instrument. As the strain is somewhat transversely across the instrument,

corrugations, according to a well-accepted principle of mechanics, would afford additional strength for resisting the strain. The corrugations employed are curved in shape, and not rectangular. Inasmuch as the former involve the principle of the arch,77 they afford greater strength. For the purpose of economy I employ sheet iron or steel rolled in the usual Way, and corrugate it by the use of corrugating-machines, in the same way as in the production of the corrugated sheet-iron of commerce. The thickness of the iron or steel andthe extent of the corrugations will vary with the size of each particular instrument. This metal frame is fastened to the wrest-plank and plate by means of bolts passing through the respective parts shown in Fig. 9, as will easily be understood by all pianomakers. This back plate has the advantage of saving space, thus giving more freedom for the working of the keys and action.

I am aware that a wooden corrugated frame made of separate pieces of wood joined together to form rectangular corrugations and requiring to be re-enforced by additional braces77 is not new, and I do not claim,

broadly, a corrugated piano-frame. That I IOO The advantages of my improved frame I are, first, extreme cheapness; second, great strength, by reason of the arch-like corrugations and there being` no joints to yield; third, small weight in proportion to the inherent strength; and, fourth, improvement in the tone, quality, and power of the piano. This 'last is due to the fact that the peculiar contour of the frame embodies a series of concaved reflectors, which concentrate and reflect the sound-vibrations; and to the further fact that the frame F forms, in connection with the sounding-board and the ends of the instrument, a large toneechaniber for the vibrations of the pianoforte, (upon the principle of the violin tOneehaniber.)

XVh-at I claim, and desire to have secured by Letters Patent, isM

l. In a piano-forte, one or more brackets, arms, or equivalent supports, as C or C, projecting from the interior framing of the instrunient at the end thereof and at any angle, and adapted to support the key-bed D in a hori- Zontal position iirmly and independently of the upright portions of the outer ease, substantially as described.

2. Ina piano-forte, one or more brackets, arms, or equivalent supports, as C, attached to any portion of the interior framing ofthe instrument, as described, and extending beyond the front frames of the case, for the purpose of supporting the forward portion of the key-bed firmly in a horizont-al position and independently of the upright portions of the outer case, substantially as described.

3. The herein-described musicalinstruinent frame, eonsisti n g of sheet metal bent or pressed into curved eorrugations, as and for the purposes set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New 4o York and State of New York, this 10th day of January, A. I). 1885.

FRANK LEEMAN VING. lVitnesses:

SAML. CoHN, W. TAZEWELL Fox. 

